Got Brownfields?

The Draft Work Plan for the Little Lake Industries site located at 46 South I Street has been submitted to the Water Board for their review and comment. In addition, a Brownfields Stakeholders Advisory Group Meeting was held in June.

Grants for Site Assessments and Cleanup Plans are Available

Simply put, Brownfields are commercial, industrial, and residential properties where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse is complicated by the presence (or potential presence) of environmental contamination. In the City of Arcata, these properties are often found in the Creamery District, the Cannabis Innovation Zone, and old mill sites.

If you own or are acquiring a Brownfields property, you may be eligible for a grant program which funds the cost of Phase I and Phase II site assessments, and cleanup plans. The City of Arcata administers the grant funds, which it obtained through the Environmental Protection Agency (see below for more program information).

Step One

Is the property contaminated by petroleum or petroleum products?

Is the property contaminated by a controlled substance (such as the residue of a meth lab)?

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If you answered YES to either question, move on to the next step.

Step Two

Do you plan to improve the property in some way?

Are you in the process of buying or selling the Brownfields property ?

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If you answered YES to either question, move on to the next step.

Step Three

Is contamination on the property currently in remediation?

Is the property subject to a response under the Oil Pollution Act, or is there a corrective action order under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act?

Has a viable Responsible Party (RP) for the cleanup been identified?

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If you answered NO to all questions in Step Three, we invite you to submit an application for grant funding.

Funds Available for Brownfield Assessments

The Environmental Protection Agency awarded the City of Arcata a $300,000 grant to perform brownfield assessments - testing sites where historical use is known to have caused contamination, or site which are perceived to be contaminated. Assessment is the first step in making plans to remediate the site. The grant can only be used for testing and cleanup plans. It cannot be used for actual cleanup.

Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under used industrial and commercial facilities or sites where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. Brownfields can be in urban, suburban, or rural areas. The EPA's Brownfields Initiative is designed to help communities mitigate potential health risks and restore the economic viability of such areas or properties.

Grant Funds are available from October, 2017 through the end of September, 2020. In response to a noticed, competitive Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process, the City received responses from seven firms for Environmental Engineering Services. Ultimately, the City chose SHN Engineers & Geologists as our partner to perform Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments and Remedial Action Planning under the City’s 2017 Community-wide Brownfields Assessment Grant.

A Brownfields Stakeholder Group was formed by interested parties. This group, comprised of local business owners, private citizens, realtors, and non-profits, holds public meetings to assist the City in developing criteria to rank sites.

The State of California's GeoTracker is a great resource to find records for sites that require cleanup. It provides information about the type of cleanup and current status. Another targeted resource is theDepartment of Toxic Substances Control site (ENVIROSTOR) for Arcata.